Great Sui Guoshi

Over there, the old man, who was looking up at the mountains, was taken aback for a moment, looking at the young man with an unbelievable, even absurd expression: "Literate? You asked me to be your teacher just to be able to read?"

"Ah...do you want to teach me something else?" Lu Liangsheng blinked suspiciously.

"you….."

The old man didn't know what to say. He looked at the other party for a moment, and with a flick of his sleeve, a stone as big as a millstone next to him flew up with a bang, and hit a tree not far away with a crackling sound, and the branches trembled In the middle, the whole tree broke down and fell down.

The fragments that flew off landed on the boy's footsteps and rolled.

Lu Liangsheng was so shocked that he stared blankly at this scene, unable to react for a long time, then raised his face tremblingly, and looked at the old man.

Seemingly satisfied with the young man's expression, the old man turned up his robe sleeves and put it behind his back, "Are you willing to learn?"

After all, it doesn't matter whether the young man agrees or not, like a magic trick, two worn-out books flew into Lu Liangsheng's arms. .

"I'm hurt as a teacher, so I can't talk to you much, and I'll go back first. When you go to bed tonight, remember to light a stick of incense at the window, and I will teach you knowledge, including literacy, in your dreams."

The sky was overcast and black, and there was a strong wind.

The old man waved his robe sleeves: "It's going to rain, go home quickly, don't tell anyone what happened today."

"It's... the first... Master."

A series of shocks broke Lu Liangsheng's long-standing cognition. Holding the two books, he still politely bowed to the old man in front of him, and walked down the mountain in a daze.

boom--

There was a loud thunder, and it rushed over from the sky. Amidst the bluish-white lightning, the old man standing in the open space had a flickering face and a white beard caressing.

The lips parted slightly and moved.

"Good roots...Young man..."

A long tongue hung down to his chest, and when the flash of lightning passed, the scarlet tinge shrank back into his mouth.

********

rumbling...  

Thunder rolls over the mountains.

Not long after the boy came down the mountain with two books in his arms, the heavy rain fell. He quickly hid the books in his arms under his clothes, braved the rain that connected the sky and the earth, and returned home quickly.

Lu Liangsheng sat by the bed blankly, outside, his mother was already cooking dinner in the kitchen, his sister was lighting the fire, and occasionally chatting and laughing with his father was heard, and he felt a sense of reality.

The previous experience was like a dream.

The sky was getting dark, and it wasn't until his younger sister Xiaoxian called him to eat at the door that he came back to his senses.

"Coming soon."

After sending his sister away, Lu Liangsheng found two hidden books, and then he believed that what happened before was not a dream. After putting them away again, he changed his clothes before going to the kitchen.

The whole family sits around the stove, and there are only two small dishes, which are all grown in the yard. The rice is millet. It is thankful that the government does not charge heavy taxes in this year. If there is a disaster year, there will be little soup. Food and water are luxuries.

After dinner, Lu Liangsheng helped clean up the dishes and went back to the room.

The sound of rain falling outside, weaving bead curtains along the thatch of the eaves.

In the darkness, the young man lit a stick of incense, stuck it in the window, returned to the bed, lay his head on the wooden pillow and opened his eyes wide to look at the dark roof. The smell of incense permeated his nose, and he could faintly hear his parents talking in the kitchen. .

"This child, Liangsheng, has something on his mind, so he didn't even take a few bites of food."

"I don't want to buy a pen yet. He is sensible. I told him in the field today."

"...What's the use of saying it? I agree with you, but I don't know what to think in my heart. If there is a scholar, the grave of your old Lu family's ancestors will be smoked."

It was almost dark outside, only the stove had some unburned firewood, reflecting the silent Lu Laoshi, breaking off a dry branch and throwing it into the fire.

"Our family can't afford scholars."

On the opposite side, the woman cleaning the pot stopped, wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her wet hand, and looked at her husband: "Then buy an old donkey, and use the remaining money to buy a pen and a booklet for Liangsheng."

"A woman's opinion, he is illiterate."

"Write and write, it will be done. It's settled. When I go to Fushui County with everyone in a few days, I will bring Liangsheng with me."

In the flickering light of the fire, Lu Laoshi got up to leave, the rain from the eaves splashed onto his trouser legs, walked to the door in the side room, took a look at his son, who was already asleep, sighed, turned back, sat at the door of the kitchen, and put The wife weaves the leftover baskets during the day, takes them in her hand and continues to weave them, and probably makes more baskets when going to the market.

......

The wind and rain drifted into the window lattice, and the slowly floating incense shook, blowing towards the sleeping figure.

Under the tightly closed eyelids, the pupils suddenly turned, and the thin and fair cheeks seemed to be blown out of a small dimple by the wind, slowly moving.

"Lu Liangsheng..."

The voice of the old man sounded, and the dream of that day came again.

Chapter 3 Tricks

"Lu Liangsheng—"

As far as the line of sight reaches, the pitch-black color extends infinitely. When the old man's voice sounded, it was accompanied by a faint cry of frogs.

"Master...Master..."

With a somewhat panicked tone, Lu Liangsheng looked around, the spreading darkness gradually formed the outline of the courtyard, dim and deep yellow lights lit up the rooms in the nearby courtyard, there was a rustling noise, shadows of people whispering to each other In the paper window, some were lying on it as if they wanted to break through the paper window and peek into the outer courtyard.

The atmosphere was strange.

"Master!" Lu Liangsheng yelled again, and suddenly dodged subconsciously. He took a step to the side, and the soil was green with peas, and then broke through the ground, rising rapidly visible to the naked eye. Suddenly, it became a towering ancient tree. When the night wind blows, its branches and leaves are luxuriant, and it shakes gently.

As the air flowed, stone tables and benches emerged, Lu Liangsheng rubbed his eyes, and when he opened them, an old man with white beard and hair was sitting there, wearing the gray robe that was worn during the day.

"Master...is this a dream?" Lu Liangsheng asked cautiously.

The old man looked at him carefully, for a moment, then nodded: "This is a dream, it can also be a reality, it just depends on one's ability." He took the gourd with black patterns from his waist, dumped it on the stone table, and the wine glass appeared out of thin air , catch the drink that is flowing down.

"Liangsheng, come and have a taste." As he spoke, he picked up the wine glass and raised it over.

Lu Liangsheng hesitated for a moment, but still walked over, took it from the old man's hand, the wine in the glass was shaking, crystal clear, with a strong fragrance.

He used to drink a little wine too, when someone in the village married a wife and invited the whole village to eat at a banquet, there would be a little bit of wine, but the wine right now was exceptionally mellow.

The entrance is a bit pungent, but the rest is sweet aftertaste, and there is a numb feeling crawling through the limbs and bones.

"It washes away the dirt of mortals."

Lu Liangsheng squeezed his wine glass and raised his gaze: "Huh?"

"You don't need to understand so much, just do everything as I tell you." The old man had no expression on his face, his wide sleeves slipped to his sides, he stood up and walked in front of the young man, reaching out his hand to caress the top of his head.

"I have practiced as a teacher all my life and be kind to others. How could I have been attacked and seriously injured by someone. I thought I was lonely, but I didn't expect to get married with you at the end of the day, so I sent you a fortune. How far you can go depends entirely on yourself."

"That literacy..."

The old man withdrew his hand, still expressionless: "You already know it."

"Yes?"

Lu Liangsheng touched his forehead, but he didn't feel anything at all. When he was half-believing, the old man over there turned around, turned his back to him, and raised his head to look at the night sky.

"Now I will pass on a set of formulas for breathing to my master. If there is a bright moon in the sky at night, you can face it and breathe out according to the formula. If you encounter someone who doesn't understand, you can find me in the Qixia Mountain Grotto."

Qixia Mountain is the mountain where Lu Liangsheng often collects firewood.

There are only a few tens of words, which are a bit boring and difficult to understand. Even if Liang Sheng has a talent for writing and drawing, it took almost half an hour to remember it.

"Okay, everything is over, the two books I gave you are for my teacher to get from him, they are all some small magic techniques, pick up some to practice, remember it well, don't tell others about it."

After saying that, the old man flicked his robe sleeve.

The dim light flickered, everything around slowly disappeared, and the darkness came in like a tide, and Lu Liangsheng felt embraced by the blackness.

Raindrops slid over the tip of the thatch and fell to the soil on the edge of the eaves. There was an unheard sound, a soft 'pop'. On the wooden bed covered with thatch, the boy shouted in his dream: "Master——"

Opening his eyes, he swished and sat up from the bed.

In the field of vision, the sun shines through the thick rain clouds, the incense sticks in the window have long been burned out, and the incense ash is stained with water stains, and the fresh morning breeze mixed with water vapor blows into the window lattice, and the coolness makes Lu Liangsheng wake up.

Outside, Li Jinhua yelled at two hens, while her younger sister ran over holding firewood humming a little tune she had learned somewhere, and everything became real again.

The figure on the bed hurriedly got off the ground, put on his shoes and took out the two books from the bottom of the bed, looked at the writing on them, and murmured subconsciously.

""Nan Shui Supplements"..."Qinghuai Mendeng"..."

The slight voice stopped suddenly, Lu Liangsheng widened his eyes, pinched his cheeks, held the two books casually, and stood there in amazement: "I... really know how to read..."

"Liangsheng! It's time to eat."

Li Jinhua's voice came from the kitchen. In the room, the young man who had put the book back away hurriedly went out. As in the past, after breakfast, he went to work in the field with his father. In the afternoon, he had his own time to find out the book and flip through it quietly. After the last few pages, after I can understand it now, every word and every column above is repeatedly chewed in my mouth.

"....There are people in the south of the river who know how to use clumsy skills. The neighbors left a thing, and the lazy people in the village snatched it. They couldn't afford it... Before the application, they piled up three inches of earth and chanted it in the southwest. It's called the skill of mountains and rocks."

Lu Liangsheng frowned, and looked at the sky outside: "Isn't it the right time?"

Put away the book, go out quietly, and run to the southwest of the village. At this time, there are still farmers busy in the field. Seeing the boy smiling and saying hello, he bent down and continued to work.

Liangsheng found a slightly hidden place, dug a pile of soil, followed the method in the book, sat cross-legged across from him, pinched his fingers, and recited the formula silently. If it doesn't produce any effect, people with advanced morality and conduct don't bother to use it.

But for a young man who is not even a beginner, it can be described as a novelty.

In the past two days, I worked very hard. At night, if the moon came out, I ran outside in the middle of the night, worshiped the bright moon, and recited the mantra, as my master said. Throughout the whole body, a slightly cool feeling flows slowly in the body like running water.

Sometimes when I go up the mountain, I will run to the huge rock and express my doubts. When I sleep, I will get the advice of the old man. For four consecutive days, my body becomes lighter and my thinking changes rapidly, which is still somewhat different from before. Compared with the ignorant state, it feels like a different person.

Reading those two books didn't feel boring either.

On the fifth day, at dawn, Lu Liangsheng was called up by Lu Laoshi. At first he thought he was going to work in the fields, but he saw all the men in the village gathered together. My own millet and millet grains, a few wild animal furs, more than 20 baskets, and several large piles of firewood were also in the bucket of one of the donkey carts.

"Hurry up and eat, and go to the city with us." Lu Laoshi stuffed a few pieces of steamed buns from his wife and stuffed one for his son, "It's a long way to go, eat enough."

Not long after, Lu Xiaoxian and Li Jinhua came out from home to see each other off, and told Liang Sheng, who had never traveled far, not to cause trouble for everyone along the way, not to run around and so on.

"Your father promised to buy you a pen. Remember, don't touch other people's things when you are in the city. People in the city have expensive things. If they are broken, our family can't afford it."

After some instructions, the time was almost up. The men in the lead shouted, and Lu Liangsheng followed his father behind the donkey cart and set off towards the nearest town outside the village.

In these years, it is relatively safe for a group of people to go together. If you encounter bad people, you can still have someone to take care of them. Most of the people in the mountains are also fierce. There are sickles and hatchets hidden under the boards of donkey carts. Desperate.

The speed of a group of more than a dozen people is not too slow. They are still resting in the mountains at noon, and they have arrived in the afternoon, and they are only five miles away from Fushui County.

When it was almost dusk, people from other villages had already gathered in the market place outside the city, and many good things were placed on the side of the road, and the merchants who received the goods came and went.

One night, Lu Liangsheng's house was finished, and the next morning, Lu Laoshi took him into the city to find shops selling pens and inks.

Chapter 4 Demonic Qi

It rained the day before, and the road was muddy. The peddlers with their loads and paper windmills passed by in a hurry. The green forest knights with swords squatted on the side of the road, holding ears of wheat, grinning grinningly, or silently watching the people entering the city, patrolling When the soldiers came over, they restrained a little.

After entering the city, it was bustling with bustling tea servants, men carrying teapots loudly beckoning customers, and those who had to stop for a while went in to sit down, the steamers of the street stalls on both sides were untied, and the steaming hot meat pies exuded a tempting aroma. Aroma, the fat boy in brocade took the butler's hand, stood there greedy, clamoring to buy it.

Occasionally, screams erupted on the street. From a distance, a group of people crowded there, as if a group of gangsters were arguing and fighting. Overturned, soup, pots and bowls were in a mess.

Someone shouted: "The officers and soldiers are here."

A group of people scattered like birds and beasts.

Lu Liangsheng stood far away, looked at it for a while, and then was pulled away by Lu Laoshi, "Don't look at it, and don't learn it, it's terrible."

Not long after, the father and son walked into the shop with the paper fans hanging, and the smell of ink wafted into their nostrils. Lu Liangsheng stepped on the threshold and took a deep breath. At the opposite counter, the shopkeeper who heard footsteps put down the account book and looked up, "Both Take a look."

On both sides of the store, bookshelves made of teak wood, white hemp paper and jute paper are stacked in batches, neatly coded, and some are printed into blank books, stacked there for people to choose.

"Shopkeeper, we want to pick a pen." Lu Laoshi looked it over, and said softly: "The cheap one, it doesn't matter if it's small, you recommend it."

The shopkeeper looked at the clothes of the two of them, but he didn't show the attitude of looking down on people with a dog's eyes. A small profit is a profit.

Nodding to the father and son, there is a pen holder behind him, which is full of various brushes that have not yet been dyed: "Don't worry, brother, the businessman is honest, even if the pen is cheap, we will not sell you bad ones."

The writing brushes hanging above are of various sizes, ranging from planting brushes to lower case letters, long fronts to short fronts, from large to small, or the brush tips are made of different materials.

"Pig hair is the cheapest. After a long time, it is easy to split... Rabbit hair, sheep hair, and wolf hair are the best. Among them, rabbit hair is the cheapest of the three. Brother, how about this one?"

"How much is this price?"

"Ten texts." The shopkeeper took down the rabbit brush and made a gesture.

Put it on the stage and let Lu Liangsheng see it. The barrel of the pen is made of bamboo, which looks like green jade. Lu Laoshi counted the money in his pocket, looked at his son, and gritted his teeth to buy it.